Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[synaesthetic]

Originally Posted by AtomicoX

@synaesthetic:Your style reminds me of what I read in other, original, works and is what I like the most and go towards. I get a very nice mental image of the events going on and there is not much to nit-pick on. There was some minor grammar errors I noticed but nothing reading-impeding.

Do consider me a fan of Nena though, I got a thing for those sort of characters. Very nice characterization of the rest of the cast too, I personally suck at it in my fics.

I also like the variety of the plot, that you don't stay in one place, and move around in the world while showing other stuff. Genre is also to my personal liking.

Need moar.

I agonized over characterizing the canon characters soooo bad. Teana was easy enough--I'm enough of a Rie Kugimiya fangirl to know how a tsundere acts--but it's really, really hard for me to write Fate in canon and keep her level of "competent moe" intact. Even as an adult in StrikerS, she's still got that shyness and taciturn nature, but her badass turns up to eleven in combat.

Shari... uh... I kinda am making up her characterization as I go along. Canon doesn't give me enough to work with other than making her a happy, competent engineer and technical specialist.

And never fear, for moar shall be forthcoming! The 3rd phase is currently in progress and everyone should find it interesting. ^^;

Teana and Fate check Nena's past out and find themselves on the bad side with the TSAB Intelligence agencies! Nena acts Ax Crazy and kills people! Subaru acts hot-blooded! Teana gets a rematch, and makes a far better accounting of herself! Many mysteries are revealed!

I swear that in 4th phase, Nena is going quote Lockon. Just you wait and see. ^^;

[Nanya01]

@synaesthetic, after work today, I'll get to reading what you had there.

I am *always* looking for good stuff to read.

...

It's why I'm archive-scumming both fanfiction threads on this board...

Hard to get to that when I'm writing my own fics tho...

...

Too bad I can't seem to write anything for Nanoha very well though.

[Satashi]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

I agonized over characterizing the canon characters soooo bad. Teana was easy enough--I'm enough of a Rie Kugimiya fangirl to know how a tsundere acts--but it's really, really hard for me to write Fate in canon and keep her level of "competent moe" intact. Even as an adult in StrikerS, she's still got that shyness and taciturn nature, but her badass turns up to eleven in combat.

Shari... uh... I kinda am making up her characterization as I go along. Canon doesn't give me enough to work with other than making her a happy, competent engineer and technical specialist.

Don't feel bad, I still struggle with Fate :3

[synaesthetic]

Check it out, 3rd phase should be done sometime by Monday or Tuesday. I usually work on these things on my days off, but my actual original novel project demands attention as well.

For now, though, I shall go get killed a lot trying to beat Stage 4 Normal of Subterranean Animism. I fail at danmaku games.

[itanshi1]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

What the heck? I'll read it, if it's written well enough.

Fanfiction in general right now is slow, so I'm always looking for new and good stuff.

Well, if you want to samples his warez, read his gospels :P

[DezoPenguin]

I spent most of last week writing ViCia/Shadows side fics, but I did manage to do a bit of typing on Arisa and Suzuka:

Spoiler for Blood & Spirit -- Chapter 6:

It was decided that whenever she was outside the Tsukimura estate, Suzuka was not to be left alone. Noel or Falin would escort her to and from school, where Arisa would be by her side. Arisa would have chafed under restrictions like that, but Suzuka merely nodded and accepted the others' concern sensibly.

I've always kind of admired that, Arisa admitted to herself, though it would have required hot irons and wild horses to get it out of her out loud. She was an honest person at heart, though, and really didn't like the way she always to seemed to have to fight back against things that weren't her own idea. This whole "ghost" thing, for example, was tailor-made for a truly epic rant. Only when she'd come back to awareness after what she only hazily remembered as an interval of gray sleep, she'd seen Suzuka kneeling there, that damned sword in her hand, about to-- And because of her. All other thoughts had been completely driven out; there would be no complaints, no petulant whining. There was no time for her to be a spoiled brat.

"So in the meantime I will find out what I can from our police contacts about that car, and we'll see what we can do," Noel summed up. "Is that all?"

"I believe so," Suzuka said.

"Actually, there's one other thing, but...um, it's kind of personal."

"Arisa?"

Arisa twisted her fingers in her skirt.

"Well, it's about my--" She stopped and took a deep breath. It was odd, because she didn't actually breathe in air, but the gesture helped her relax and get a hold of herself like it had at lunch. "My...body," she got out. Suzuka flinched at the mention of it. Way to go, Arisa, the ghost castigated herself. Can't you be a little stronger? "It's still here, right?"

"That's right," Noel answered.

"Well, I was wondering what you were going to do with it? It feels kind of weird knowing that it's just lying around your house."

Noel frowned.

"I honestly hadn't considered it. When I brought it here, I was concerned only with Suzuka's well-being. I'd intended to stage something to explain the death in mundane terms--a motorcycle crash and fire, perhaps--but Suzuka-sama would not hear of it. And now, since you're continuing the pose of being alive in the world's eye, disposal becomes a problem."

Arisa winced at "disposal."

"Isn't there any way she can be properly buried?" Suzuka asked.

"No reputable funeral home or cemetery would accept a body without the proper paperwork. No doubt the underworld has practiced methods for making a body vanish, but we don't have those contacts. Practically speaking, the thing to do would be to simply bury it on this estate at night, out of sight of witnesses. Falin and I could manage it easily enough."

Arisa sighed, cupping her chin in the heels of her hands.

"That's kind of depressing. An unmarked grave in unconsecrated ground."

Suzuka sniffled.

"Hey, hey, none of that!"

"Arisa!"

In the next instant, the violet-haired girl had leapt from her seat, flung her arms around Arisa's neck, and was sobbing against her shoulder. Arisa looked helplessly at Noel, then hesitantly put her own arms around Suzuka.

Hesitantly? Why did I hesitate? She'd hugged her friend hundreds of times over the years. So what was different? Did the sudden outburst make her nervous, threatening to shatter the veneer of calm that she'd surrounded herself with? Did she feel, somewhere, some genuine resentment towards Suzuka for what she'd done? That's an ugly thought. It made Arisa want to scream and yank her hair; she was so not good at introspection, at patiently examining her own feelings and seeing where they came out. She preferred doing stuff; what did she have a subconscious mind for, if not to chew over these emotional issues in the back of her head so she could get on with her life without them bugging her?

She sighed deeply, cradling the weeping vampire against herself. It was all so much, trying to cope with her own death, Suzuka's guilt, and a bunch of unknown bad guys up to God knew what. Can't the problems just take a number and come at us one at a time?

"Shh, it's okay, Suzuka, really," she murmured, gently stroking the other girl's hair. It took nearly ten minutes, but the sobbing finally slowed and came to a stop. Suzuka lifted her face, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy. "You know, it's a good thing you don't cry tears of blood like some vampires in books do. That would be a real mess!"

"Arisa..."

"No, no, no, no! No more with the crying, Suzuka, do you hear me? This has got to stop now. Between those assholes who tried to kidnap you and probably will try again and me trying to get my legs under me because of this whole undead thing, we do not need you breaking down and crying over things that are Not! Your! Fault! Do you hear me?"

Suzuka sniffed.

"Y-yes, Arisa."

"Good, because I hate vampire angst. It's dorky, it's a cliche, and you'll embarrass your family falling into that tired routine."

Then, as if the humor had shocked her out of the intimacy of the exchange of emotional outpourings, Arisa was suddenly aware that she was still holding Suzuka, cradling her against herself. It hadn't really seemed to matter when Arisa was trying to comfort her or when she was snapping back at her, but now she noticed it in a way that she hadn't before, the weight of her, the pressure of her softness against Arisa's body.

Oh, damn.

Now she knew why she'd hesitated to put her arms around Suzuka.

Why she'd done that bit with the handkerchief at lunch.

Even why she'd felt so upset about going off to a different university.

She'd fallen in love with her best friend.

She'd loved Suzuka since they were children, of course. They'd always been that kind of friend, not just people who hung out together or were interested in the same things, but real friends, the kind who'd drop everything to go help the other out at a moment's notice. Of course she loved Suzuka.

This was different. More than that. A desire for an intimacy between them, a closeness that was a sharing of their innermost selves. And, yes, for a physical intimacy, too, those feelings couldn't be overlooked either.

And all it had taken was Suzuka killing her to get Arisa to realize it.

She glanced over at the maid's chair and realized that Noel had slipped out of the room sometime during Suzuka's storm of tears. Was it so as not to embarrass her mistress, or was it because she was uncannily perceptive in these situations? Arisa found the idea that a third party might have recognized her feelings before she did a little bit creepy.

Even so...

She loved Suzuka.

So now what?

Was this the perfect time to confess her feelings because their emotional defenses were down and they were being open and honest with each other? Or was it the worst possible time because of the strain Suzuka was under? Did Suzuka love her back? Could Suzuka love her back? It wasn't like they'd sat around having extensive discussions of each other's sexuality.

"Arisa...?"

She was talking.

"Arisa, are you all right? You've been just staring at me for the longest time."

I have, haven't I? The realization of her feelings had hit her like a thunderbolt, leaving her stunned as her brain chewed it over, trying to make some sense of it at all. Which is stupid, if you think about it. It wasn't like Arisa was any good at that. Not that she wasn't self-aware or anything like that, just that she didn't generally spend time chewing over the whys and wherefores of her emotions. Wasn't that why she was upset with Suzuka, for overthinking the problem until misplaced guilt kept trying to turn into depression? Because the answers weren't inside her own head but with Arisa, so why waste time in the wrong place?

Screw it.

She was still holding the other girl, one arm cradled around her back, the other against the back of her head. Arisa slid the latter hand around until it cupped her cheek, and then in one swift, decisive movement she closed the few inches separating their faces and kissed her.

Suzuka's lips were soft and warm, and Arisa brushed her mouth against them tenderly, but firmly enough that there could be no doubt about its meaning, not a playful peck but a lover's--a would-be lover's--invitation. Her lips moved gently on Suzuka's in a tender caress.

Only Suzuka didn't respond. And when after twenty seconds or so Arisa opened her eyes, she found Suzuka's wide and staring.

Damn.

She broke the kiss, pulling back. There wasn't much point in going forward with it, after all.

"Damn," she said again, aloud this time, as she leaned her head against the high back of the chair and closed her eyes. She sighed heavily, letting out her frustration. That was the down side, after all, to following her feelings and acting upon her heart. Things didn't always go right. There was a reason, after all, why some people were timid and feared to act. Trying and failing--well, it hurt.

Sometimes, it hurt a lot.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I guess I should have asked if you wanted this, huh?" She dropped her arms to the chair's, realizing that just maybe Suzuka wouldn't want to be held by someone who'd been pushing unwanted attentions on her. "You don't need to worry; I'll keep my lips to myself from now on."

"Arisa...why did you do that?" Suzuka asked in a very small voice.

A flicker of instinct told her to brush Suzuka's worries away with one of her usual blustery excuses. Just because she tended to act on her feelings didn't mean Arisa was very good at opening herself up and talking about them, let alone to another person. Particularly the softer emotions like love or caring. Especially not to the object of those feelings, who'd just shot her down.

But she did it anyway, maybe because Suzuka had been her friend for so long, or because Arisa figured that when you try to kiss a girl in her own parlor you at least owe her the truth, or maybe just because their lives were so screwed up at that point that there was no room for evasions or lies to fit in with all the other stuff.

"Because I love you," she said. "Not in a best-friends or a nearly-a-sister way. Even if my timing is lousy and I'm so slow it took me twelve years and dying to realize it." She opened her eyes. "I love you. I really, truly love you, Tsukimura Suzuka."

Arisa didn't know whether she wanted to smile or cry or laugh or what-the-hell; her heart felt like it had been caught in a vice-grip.

"Arisa..."

Suzuka's face was blank, as if shock had wiped it clean. There was no way to tell what she was thinking.

"How long..." Her voice trailed off, unable to finish articulating the question.

"Have I loved you?" Arisa finished for her.

Suzuka nodded, as if even a simple 'yes' was beyond her.

"I'm honestly not sure. I only realized it just now, but I'm sure it's something I've felt for years. You've always been by my side, the person I can always count on and believe in. These past few months...the idea of not having you with me, it leaves this hollow space in my chest. I thought about giving up on going to Todai about a thousand times, you know."

The other girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"I know, it's cliched beyond all reason," Arisa continued, "but I really, really didn't want to be away from you, and honestly, I can't imagine what a degree from a prestigious university could possibly give me to justify the pain. If I'd had the sense to realize what I felt and asked you out years ago, I wouldn't have even thought of it." She paused, then added, "Unless you'd turned me down flat, of course. But even if you can't or just don't care for me in that way, I hope you won't hate me for this..."

Suzuka continued to stare wide-eyed at her.

"Um, Suzuka, would you say something? It's getting a little creepy..." Arisa stammered. Had her friend gone into some kind of weird fugue state from the shock of yet another emotional weight crashing in on her?

"Arisa!"

It was a whimpering, choked cry that burst from her like a living thing beyond her conscious control.

"S-Suzuka?"

And then the violet-haired girl's mouth was on hers. It wasn't a tender kiss, soft and loving like Arisa's had been. It was hot and fierce, a ruthless claiming of Arisa's lips, Arisa's mouth, Arisa's whole being. Suzuka's mouth moved wetly on her own, pressing it open to admit a seeking tongue that probed, caressed, and captured. Suzuka's hands on her shoulders pinned her back against the chair, and Arisa--still not understanding anything of Suzuka's reaction--gave herself over to the other girl's maddeningly sensual assault.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Arisa & Friends Omake Roadshow!

"Aw, who's a good kitty?" Arisa cooed, stroking the nine-year-old tiger-striped cat she was cradling in her arms. He purred happily, snuggling close.

"Wow, I thought that animals got nervous and scared around ghosts," Nanoha said.

"Yeah, I'm glad that part of the stories wasn't true," Arisa agreed.

"Actually," Suzuka said, "I think the cats like her better now."

"Maybe it's because the scent of her dogs doesn't cling to her any more?" Fate suggested. "Scent is just chemicals, and they would pass right through Arisa's body whenever she goes intangible."

Suddenly, the cat gave a yowl, squirmed wildly in Arisa's arms, and lashed out with a paw.

"Ow!" Fate yelped. "He scratched me!"

"Now, Ein," Suzuka scolded, "I thought we agreed that you weren't going to hold on to that old grudge any more."

Spoiler for Notes:

1. I'm really hoping that the little hints I was trying to drop throughout the previous five chapters made everyone assume we were going to wind up here. I mean, it was fairly obvious from the first post I made with Chapter 1 when I started talking about why I was motivated to start this series, but...

2. On a more serious note; I'm basically interpreting Arisa's tsundere-ness as a side effect of she herself being bad at analyzing/perceiving emotions--her own and other people's--and therefore also having a dislike of emotional scenes. I figure that's better than saying "tsunderes are raging hypocrites who refuse to be honest with themselves or other people about anything until you crack their skull with an anvil in Episode 11 or 24." But it fleshes out her inner monologue a lot.

3. Yes, I'm assuming Ein lived for purposes of the omake. It worked for Nanoha and the dog after all. Because kitten-murdering monsters should be spitted on the pointy end of Raising Heart regardless of how damn sad their eyes are.

Previously:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

[The Guy Named Zeo]

Originally Posted by Tempest Dynasty

Hmm, so I have a story idea, but I don't want to start it up if there's no interest in it.

It'd be a CYOA (choose your own adventure) story, but rather than controlling one of the cast, you control an Original Character whom you can assist in creating, or let me quick-brew one up. This OC will take part and even alter the course of history for the Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha series. What this OC does... is up to you.

You can choose to start in any of the seasons, from first to StrikerS, though the later the season the more I get to fiddle with the OC's backstory. Regardless, the OC will (probably) kick ass, have fun (maybe), find love (possibly), and save the world (it could happen?). Or die horribly, become a villain, or even destroy everyone. It's up to you.

So. Should I?

Yes you should, I like this idea.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

I spent most of last week writing ViCia/Shadows side fics, but I did manage to do a bit of typing on Arisa and Suzuka:

Spoiler for Blood & Spirit -- Chapter 6:

It was decided that whenever she was outside the Tsukimura estate, Suzuka was not to be left alone. Noel or Falin would escort her to and from school, where Arisa would be by her side. Arisa would have chafed under restrictions like that, but Suzuka merely nodded and accepted the others' concern sensibly.

I've always kind of admired that, Arisa admitted to herself, though it would have required hot irons and wild horses to get it out of her out loud. She was an honest person at heart, though, and really didn't like the way she always to seemed to have to fight back against things that weren't her own idea. This whole "ghost" thing, for example, was tailor-made for a truly epic rant. Only when she'd come back to awareness after what she only hazily remembered as an interval of gray sleep, she'd seen Suzuka kneeling there, that damned sword in her hand, about to-- And because of her. All other thoughts had been completely driven out; there would be no complaints, no petulant whining. There was no time for her to be a spoiled brat.

"So in the meantime I will find out what I can from our police contacts about that car, and we'll see what we can do," Noel summed up. "Is that all?"

"I believe so," Suzuka said.

"Actually, there's one other thing, but...um, it's kind of personal."

"Arisa?"

Arisa twisted her fingers in her skirt.

"Well, it's about my--" She stopped and took a deep breath. It was odd, because she didn't actually breathe in air, but the gesture helped her relax and get a hold of herself like it had at lunch. "My...body," she got out. Suzuka flinched at the mention of it. Way to go, Arisa, the ghost castigated herself. Can't you be a little stronger? "It's still here, right?"

"That's right," Noel answered.

"Well, I was wondering what you were going to do with it? It feels kind of weird knowing that it's just lying around your house."

Noel frowned.

"I honestly hadn't considered it. When I brought it here, I was concerned only with Suzuka's well-being. I'd intended to stage something to explain the death in mundane terms--a motorcycle crash and fire, perhaps--but Suzuka-sama would not hear of it. And now, since you're continuing the pose of being alive in the world's eye, disposal becomes a problem."

Arisa winced at "disposal."

"Isn't there any way she can be properly buried?" Suzuka asked.

"No reputable funeral home or cemetery would accept a body without the proper paperwork. No doubt the underworld has practiced methods for making a body vanish, but we don't have those contacts. Practically speaking, the thing to do would be to simply bury it on this estate at night, out of sight of witnesses. Falin and I could manage it easily enough."

Arisa sighed, cupping her chin in the heels of her hands.

"That's kind of depressing. An unmarked grave in unconsecrated ground."

Suzuka sniffled.

"Hey, hey, none of that!"

"Arisa!"

In the next instant, the violet-haired girl had leapt from her seat, flung her arms around Arisa's neck, and was sobbing against her shoulder. Arisa looked helplessly at Noel, then hesitantly put her own arms around Suzuka.

Hesitantly? Why did I hesitate? She'd hugged her friend hundreds of times over the years. So what was different? Did the sudden outburst make her nervous, threatening to shatter the veneer of calm that she'd surrounded herself with? Did she feel, somewhere, some genuine resentment towards Suzuka for what she'd done? That's an ugly thought. It made Arisa want to scream and yank her hair; she was so not good at introspection, at patiently examining her own feelings and seeing where they came out. She preferred doing stuff; what did she have a subconscious mind for, if not to chew over these emotional issues in the back of her head so she could get on with her life without them bugging her?

She sighed deeply, cradling the weeping vampire against herself. It was all so much, trying to cope with her own death, Suzuka's guilt, and a bunch of unknown bad guys up to God knew what. Can't the problems just take a number and come at us one at a time?

"Shh, it's okay, Suzuka, really," she murmured, gently stroking the other girl's hair. It took nearly ten minutes, but the sobbing finally slowed and came to a stop. Suzuka lifted her face, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy. "You know, it's a good thing you don't cry tears of blood like some vampires in books do. That would be a real mess!"

"Arisa..."

"No, no, no, no! No more with the crying, Suzuka, do you hear me? This has got to stop now. Between those assholes who tried to kidnap you and probably will try again and me trying to get my legs under me because of this whole undead thing, we do not need you breaking down and crying over things that are Not! Your! Fault! Do you hear me?"

Suzuka sniffed.

"Y-yes, Arisa."

"Good, because I hate vampire angst. It's dorky, it's a cliche, and you'll embarrass your family falling into that tired routine."

Then, as if the humor had shocked her out of the intimacy of the exchange of emotional outpourings, Arisa was suddenly aware that she was still holding Suzuka, cradling her against herself. It hadn't really seemed to matter when Arisa was trying to comfort her or when she was snapping back at her, but now she noticed it in a way that she hadn't before, the weight of her, the pressure of her softness against Arisa's body.

Oh, damn.

Now she knew why she'd hesitated to put her arms around Suzuka.

Why she'd done that bit with the handkerchief at lunch.

Even why she'd felt so upset about going off to a different university.

She'd fallen in love with her best friend.

She'd loved Suzuka since they were children, of course. They'd always been that kind of friend, not just people who hung out together or were interested in the same things, but real friends, the kind who'd drop everything to go help the other out at a moment's notice. Of course she loved Suzuka.

This was different. More than that. A desire for an intimacy between them, a closeness that was a sharing of their innermost selves. And, yes, for a physical intimacy, too, those feelings couldn't be overlooked either.

And all it had taken was Suzuka killing her to get Arisa to realize it.

She glanced over at the maid's chair and realized that Noel had slipped out of the room sometime during Suzuka's storm of tears. Was it so as not to embarrass her mistress, or was it because she was uncannily perceptive in these situations? Arisa found the idea that a third party might have recognized her feelings before she did a little bit creepy.

Even so...

She loved Suzuka.

So now what?

Was this the perfect time to confess her feelings because their emotional defenses were down and they were being open and honest with each other? Or was it the worst possible time because of the strain Suzuka was under? Did Suzuka love her back? Could Suzuka love her back? It wasn't like they'd sat around having extensive discussions of each other's sexuality.

"Arisa...?"

She was talking.

"Arisa, are you all right? You've been just staring at me for the longest time."

I have, haven't I? The realization of her feelings had hit her like a thunderbolt, leaving her stunned as her brain chewed it over, trying to make some sense of it at all. Which is stupid, if you think about it. It wasn't like Arisa was any good at that. Not that she wasn't self-aware or anything like that, just that she didn't generally spend time chewing over the whys and wherefores of her emotions. Wasn't that why she was upset with Suzuka, for overthinking the problem until misplaced guilt kept trying to turn into depression? Because the answers weren't inside her own head but with Arisa, so why waste time in the wrong place?

Screw it.

She was still holding the other girl, one arm cradled around her back, the other against the back of her head. Arisa slid the latter hand around until it cupped her cheek, and then in one swift, decisive movement she closed the few inches separating their faces and kissed her.

Suzuka's lips were soft and warm, and Arisa brushed her mouth against them tenderly, but firmly enough that there could be no doubt about its meaning, not a playful peck but a lover's--a would-be lover's--invitation. Her lips moved gently on Suzuka's in a tender caress.

Only Suzuka didn't respond. And when after twenty seconds or so Arisa opened her eyes, she found Suzuka's wide and staring.

Damn.

She broke the kiss, pulling back. There wasn't much point in going forward with it, after all.

"Damn," she said again, aloud this time, as she leaned her head against the high back of the chair and closed her eyes. She sighed heavily, letting out her frustration. That was the down side, after all, to following her feelings and acting upon her heart. Things didn't always go right. There was a reason, after all, why some people were timid and feared to act. Trying and failing--well, it hurt.

Sometimes, it hurt a lot.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I guess I should have asked if you wanted this, huh?" She dropped her arms to the chair's, realizing that just maybe Suzuka wouldn't want to be held by someone who'd been pushing unwanted attentions on her. "You don't need to worry; I'll keep my lips to myself from now on."

"Arisa...why did you do that?" Suzuka asked in a very small voice.

A flicker of instinct told her to brush Suzuka's worries away with one of her usual blustery excuses. Just because she tended to act on her feelings didn't mean Arisa was very good at opening herself up and talking about them, let alone to another person. Particularly the softer emotions like love or caring. Especially not to the object of those feelings, who'd just shot her down.

But she did it anyway, maybe because Suzuka had been her friend for so long, or because Arisa figured that when you try to kiss a girl in her own parlor you at least owe her the truth, or maybe just because their lives were so screwed up at that point that there was no room for evasions or lies to fit in with all the other stuff.

"Because I love you," she said. "Not in a best-friends or a nearly-a-sister way. Even if my timing is lousy and I'm so slow it took me twelve years and dying to realize it." She opened her eyes. "I love you. I really, truly love you, Tsukimura Suzuka."

Arisa didn't know whether she wanted to smile or cry or laugh or what-the-hell; her heart felt like it had been caught in a vice-grip.

"Arisa..."

Suzuka's face was blank, as if shock had wiped it clean. There was no way to tell what she was thinking.

"How long..." Her voice trailed off, unable to finish articulating the question.

"Have I loved you?" Arisa finished for her.

Suzuka nodded, as if even a simple 'yes' was beyond her.

"I'm honestly not sure. I only realized it just now, but I'm sure it's something I've felt for years. You've always been by my side, the person I can always count on and believe in. These past few months...the idea of not having you with me, it leaves this hollow space in my chest. I thought about giving up on going to Todai about a thousand times, you know."

The other girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"I know, it's cliched beyond all reason," Arisa continued, "but I really, really didn't want to be away from you, and honestly, I can't imagine what a degree from a prestigious university could possibly give me to justify the pain. If I'd had the sense to realize what I felt and asked you out years ago, I wouldn't have even thought of it." She paused, then added, "Unless you'd turned me down flat, of course. But even if you can't or just don't care for me in that way, I hope you won't hate me for this..."

Suzuka continued to stare wide-eyed at her.

"Um, Suzuka, would you say something? It's getting a little creepy..." Arisa stammered. Had her friend gone into some kind of weird fugue state from the shock of yet another emotional weight crashing in on her?

"Arisa!"

It was a whimpering, choked cry that burst from her like a living thing beyond her conscious control.

"S-Suzuka?"

And then the violet-haired girl's mouth was on hers. It wasn't a tender kiss, soft and loving like Arisa's had been. It was hot and fierce, a ruthless claiming of Arisa's lips, Arisa's mouth, Arisa's whole being. Suzuka's mouth moved wetly on her own, pressing it open to admit a seeking tongue that probed, caressed, and captured. Suzuka's hands on her shoulders pinned her back against the chair, and Arisa--still not understanding anything of Suzuka's reaction--gave herself over to the other girl's maddeningly sensual assault.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Arisa & Friends Omake Roadshow!

"Aw, who's a good kitty?" Arisa cooed, stroking the nine-year-old tiger-striped cat she was cradling in her arms. He purred happily, snuggling close.

"Wow, I thought that animals got nervous and scared around ghosts," Nanoha said.

"Yeah, I'm glad that part of the stories wasn't true," Arisa agreed.

"Actually," Suzuka said, "I think the cats like her better now."

"Maybe it's because the scent of her dogs doesn't cling to her any more?" Fate suggested. "Scent is just chemicals, and they would pass right through Arisa's body whenever she goes intangible."

Suddenly, the cat gave a yowl, squirmed wildly in Arisa's arms, and lashed out with a paw.

"Ow!" Fate yelped. "He scratched me!"

"Now, Ein," Suzuka scolded, "I thought we agreed that you weren't going to hold on to that old grudge any more."

Spoiler for Notes:

1. I'm really hoping that the little hints I was trying to drop throughout the previous five chapters made everyone assume we were going to wind up here. I mean, it was fairly obvious from the first post I made with Chapter 1 when I started talking about why I was motivated to start this series, but...

2. On a more serious note; I'm basically interpreting Arisa's tsundere-ness as a side effect of she herself being bad at analyzing/perceiving emotions--her own and other people's--and therefore also having a dislike of emotional scenes. I figure that's better than saying "tsunderes are raging hypocrites who refuse to be honest with themselves or other people about anything until you crack their skull with an anvil in Episode 11 or 24." But it fleshes out her inner monologue a lot.

3. Yes, I'm assuming Ein lived for purposes of the omake. It worked for Nanoha and the dog after all. Because kitten-murdering monsters should be spitted on the pointy end of Raising Heart regardless of how damn sad their eyes are.

Previously:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Seeing as I picked up the little hints you were sprinkling throughout the chapters, not to mention the background already from the series, I have to say I saw this coming from about a mile away. I certainly enjoyed it; it's just like Arisa, really, to stumble and stutter her way through a confession, and so sweet to actually read. Though I notice Suzuka, other than kissing Arisa senseless, hasn't exactly given a definite answer... though I think her kiss speaks for itself.

And HAH! That omake is great! I always kind of hated Fate for doing that, even when she became a good guy. Glad to see Ein got his revenge after nine years!

[MeisterBabylon]

Gah! I missed Lowe and Aaron hijacking Tempy! I'm even more useless than a useless swirly!!! T____T

[Tk3997]

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

... So our OC might end up as this guy?
*Snip*

Well, what the heck, I'm in!!!

*SHOT*

*TK blows down the door with explosives*

The hell you are you lazy bastard!

*Clubs Aaron over the head and drags him out to a waiting helicopter*

Originally Posted by LoweGear

...

"I'm just a passing through Mage, you better remember that!"

I APPROVE

*RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNZ!!!!*

*blows Lowe up*

Don't encourage him!

[Jimmy C]

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

A suggestion, perhaps they should preserve the body for now until someone from the Bureau can examine Arisa. It would be embaressing to find out that they can restore her to the living but can't do so since her body was... disposed.

[Grand Phoenix]

Originally posted by Tempest Dynasty
Hmm, so I have a story idea, but I don't want to start it up if there's no interest in it.

It'd be a CYOA (choose your own adventure) story, but rather than controlling one of the cast, you control an Original Character whom you can assist in creating, or let me quick-brew one up. This OC will take part and even alter the course of history for the Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha series. What this OC does... is up to you.

You can choose to start in any of the seasons, from first to StrikerS, though the later the season the more I get to fiddle with the OC's backstory. Regardless, the OC will (probably) kick ass, have fun (maybe), find love (possibly), and save the world (it could happen?). Or die horribly, become a villain, or even destroy everyone. It's up to you.

So. Should I?

Sounds like fun. Count me in.

Oh, and remember that pseudo-commentary I said I'd post on Thursday? Yeah, I got set back (read: procrastinated) >_> <_< >_>, but here is the finished product. It turned out just a tad differently from my original intents, which was to promote the release of Force. While it is cracky in nature, I took a little more time satirizing the current "controversy" (if you can call it a "controversy") about nudity (mostly centered on Lily Strosek's appearance in her debut) that was discussed in the Manga thread.

At best it's a bizarre mish-mash of:
-spreading the word on Force and Vivid
- (basically) putting in my two cents on nudity
- taking a jab at Nanoha/Fate
- a compare and contrast between Nanoha and Sailor Moon, discussing the relation of an open, continuing storyline and fanfiction
- my disappointment for waiting the next Force chapter
- the utter power of crack
- parodying PSAs and/or special news reports, and
- an introduction to flamingos

What do you think?

Spoiler for For the Love of Ass-Kicking: A Fictional Commentary:

WE INTERRUPT OUR SPORADIC PROGRAMMING FOR AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT. WE BRING YOU LIVE TO THE GRAND PHOENIX NETWORK, HOME OF OUR HUMBLED LEADER, GP-SAMA.

Thank you, Shichimenchou. Ah, but please call me Jen; GP-sama is a misnomer for the Lady of GAR, the Mistress of Crude and Obscene Comedies, and the Master of Turkeys and Other Such Ornothological Specimens. Keep them close to heart, children! Right now, though, is not the time for listing nicknames and aliases. My viewers, today is a time for reflection.

Allow me to explain.

(Clears throat) HARRUMPH! HARRUMPH! HAAAA-RUMPH! (Coughs) Ah, pardon my vocals. Have to speak clearly! Now where was I….

Oh yes!

(Coughs into fist)

CHILDREN OF THE INTERNET! Local lurkers of the web and fellow members of fanfiction Here and Everywhere! I write this piece today to bring you great tidings of joy and manly emotion! But before I give my deliverance, let us be reminded of the phenomenon that has brought us together – whether it be through AnimeNewsNetwork, Animesuki, Megami, Nyantype, DVDs and manga, commercial trailers… or freakin’ 4Chan, whatever!

This phenomenon which I relate to you, viewer, is that of an unheard-of combination of mahou shoujo and seinen shounen, Lyrical Nanoha.

Flamingo: YAY!

Settle down, fledgling. I’m gonna get to it.

Flamingo: D’AWW! D:

I know, I know, but anyhow we were talking about our most favored subject....

Flamingo: NanoFate? (:B

On the contrary, my feathery zealot! As a matter of fact, we were just about to tell the readers how JAWSOME Lyrical Nanoha has been over the past three-and-a-half years! Look how far it’s come since its debut in ’04; I bet a lot of the Japanese audience thought they were dealin’ with something akin to Sailor Moon! Well… I have nothing against Sailor Moon, per se; I absolutely adored the show as a kid when it came here in the States, and even after watching StarS some ten years later. Hell, it pretty much launched the mahou shoujo genre!

Flamingo: Oh boy! ((

Ah, but it doesn’t end there! Because we thought we were going to have another show like Sailor Moon, we figured that it was going to be some of the SAME OLD THING, most primarily monster of the week fights by saving the day with the POWER OF LOVE. But Nanoha – Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha – showed not just lovin’. Hell no, my compatriots! She gave her enemies FRIENDSHIP; long-range, point-blank friendship STRAIGHT UP THE ASS. And it felt so damn GOOD, because that’s what happens to bad guys when they screw with the White Devil. They get OVEN-ROASTED.

Flamingo: OH NOES NOT THE OVENS! D;

Worry you not, flamingo! It is only the near-human variety who has been gifted with Nanoha’s love. And alien creatures. And a Wolkenritter Knight. And combat cyborgs. And a Saint King clone. And maybe that Squall wannabe if he keeps blasting Divide Zeroes in the sky.

See here, children? You don’t get that many beam spams in the traditional magical girl shows, ‘cause you only get such a thing in Dragonball Z or Street Fighter or King of Fighters, for that matter. Andwhile it’s not necessary to include raw and dirty ass-kicking in the less violent shows (hey, who doesn’t want to see Sachiko bitch-slap Sei for trying to lay a hand on Yumi?), sometimes ya just gotta reach deep within and free the MOTHERFRAKKIN’ BEAST! Because that’s exactly what that nine-year-old squirt and her stalwart gang of handsome mages and extremely phallic ships did when faced with the ugly mug of universal irony! It was shoot the living daylights outta the bastards first and talk nice second!

But those kids aren’t squirts anymore, I’m afraid. It’s been – what is it, sixteen? – yes, sixteen years since that moe blob from Uminari received Raging Heart from the ferret that was never loved and pumped the business end of her staff smart-like and sallied forth beyond the stars. It just so happens our favorite White Devil has become an adult… at the age of twenty-five.

Flamingo: (LE GASP :O) Where has the time gone?!

Beats me. But yeah, Nanoha and the others are gettin’ up there. Soon they’ll be hitting their thirties, then the forties, and before you know it the series will be called Not-So Magical Old Lady Nanoha. However, I digress. Sixteen years is enough time to get the young bloods to fill in the seats. In that case, when everyone retires and starts earning that long-awaited pension, we’ll be havin’ all sorts of lolis and shoutas and beautiful boys and girls to play around and mess their minds with the POWERS OF FANFICTION!

Which finally brings me to tonight’s most anticipated topic: Lyrical Nanoha is NOT OVER. It’s the End of the Beginning of the End. And you know what? The ass-kicking WILL CONTINUE. For today, on July the thirtieth, there will be blood, there will be war, and, most probable of all, there WILL be DEATH. I mean, come on, there was that final sentence at the end of the pilot chapter saying… uh… damn, what was it again, flamingo?

Flamingo: (falsetto) Come play with us, Nanoha, forever and ever and ever…. O_O

…That’s from The Shining. -___-;; But… it’s close enough.

Flamingo: Whew! I thought for sure you were going to skin me. :>

Well, no... BUT SOMEONE’S GONNA GET SHANKED! AND YA’LL GONNA BE THERE WHEN IT HAPPENS, RIGHT!? ‘CAUSE I KNOW I WILL!...Whenever that is. Next chapter ain’t comin’ ‘til September thirtieth U___U.

Flamingo: D’AAAAAH! D: Why’s the wait gotta be so long?!

Never fear, flacito! There’s enough time between now and then to conjure many ideas for what the future of Force and Vivid hold, enough time to mind-rape the hell out of the Squall lookalike, the naked Belkan chick, the teeny-bopper, and every other new cast member Tsuzuki-san can fart from his brain! (Shakes fist and raises it) With these people, we’ll rock the Nanoha fandom to hell and back and purgatory and back again until we have no choice but to go to the fourth dimension! AND IT WILL BE MOST EXTREMAL!

Flamingo: (jumps up and down like a spaz) I NEED PEPSI!!

Here ya go! (Throws a can to Flamingo) Now go crash and burn. As for the rest of you folks, wait for the raws to come out. Once they’re translated to your native tongue, plop your stern and get reading! Who knows, after you finish you might be ranting to your friends how women’s nipples can drag a story to its knees! What say you, Flamingo? Will YOU be reading Nanoha Force and Vivid?

Flamingo: (completely spazzed) o_O RAINBOWS TASTE LIKE V8! O_o

And we’ll be there the whole way. Good night, everyone!

THIS HAS BEEN A GPN PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE CENTER OF THE SPIRAL. AND NOW WE RETURN TO OUR SPORADIC SCHEDULING….

And I apologize if I'm getting off-topic, butI also have a poll up on my FFN account; it's about which story I should work on after the completion of my Naruto fanfic "Sparda in Colossal". Of the two choices, one is "Yuusha Mahou Gunjin Subaru", a - as I put it in my profile XD - Nanoha StrikerS/Multi-Crossover Epic What-If AU. The other story is a Simoun/Chrono Trigger epic, but since we're discussing Nanoha I won't write of it here. If you're interested in voting, please take the time to head over to my profile (which is "Grand Phoenix", the same name I use here) and select your choice. I would really appreciate your input.

[synaesthetic]

@DezoPenguin:

Spoiler for spoilery!:

How does one kiss a ghost? ^^;

@post above mine:

Please don't lump MGLN with shonen martial arts anime. It is not. Even with the training episodes in StrikerS, it still remains a sci-fantasy with magical-girl and mecha tropes.

Calling MGLN a shonen fighting show is just as bad as blanket statements claiming it's a magical girl show. It's not. It's closer to Star Wars than it is to DBZ.

[Rising Dragon]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

@DezoPenguin:

Spoiler for spoilery!:

How does one kiss a ghost? ^^;

Ask the girl who made out with Casper, she'll tell ya.

[DezoPenguin]

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

A suggestion, perhaps they should preserve the body for now until someone from the Bureau can examine Arisa. It would be embaressing to find out that they can restore her to the living but can't do so since her body was... disposed.

I'm guessing that resurrection magic is not possible within TSAB capacities ("Alicia Testarossa" springs to mind). Although Alicia wasn't still sticking around complaining about being dead at the time...

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

@DezoPenguin:

Spoiler for spoilery!:

How does one kiss a ghost? ^^;

Well, Arisa's body is (as we've seen in chapters 3-6) quite capable of interacting with solid objects (poor rose bushes ). Indeed, "solid" is her default state. But hold on to your question. You may want to edit it slightly and re-ask it after Chapter 7!

[synaesthetic]

For your reading pleasure, here's A Path Through Remembrance ~ 3rd phase! Again, it is apparently too big to fit in an AS post, so I'll split it up into two posts, forgive my multiple postings in a row.

Spoiler for a path through remembrance - 3rd phase:

3rd phase

Teana felt overwhelmed. The work of a true Enforcer in the middle of an electrifying and politically charged case was dizzying. Her desk, impromptu as it was set next to Fate's in the temporary command center, was overwhelmed with floating display windows covered in various bits of information relevant to the case. Teana longed to close all the glowing monitor screens and rest her eyes for a moment, but that wouldn't be possible.

The investigation was coming to a head--thanks to Teana's chance witnessing of the attack on the original command center, Cross Mirage had obtained a visual record of the suspected criminal.

Teana's first instinct was to search through the TSAB records to find out if there was any trace of the strange young woman within the Administration's files. Fate had agreed but only after some argument, which struck Teana as odd, but she did not press the issue.

The initial search found nothing--no biometrics, no familial data, not even a point of origin or any surveillance images of the suspect. Teana sighed as she looked away from the multiple search windows.

"She's a ghost--a nobody, according to the Administration," Teana said irritably. Her senior, Fate Harlaown, nodded absently. She was looking very distracted and anxious. Teana was unsure what the problem was, but it was like Fate expected something bad to happen based on the information they obtained.

"Why are you acting so weird, sempai?"

Fate looked startled as she turned her attention back onto her junior. "What are you talking about? I'm not acting weird."

"Ever since your initial search was met with a refusal, you've been spacey," protested Teana indignantly. "What gives?"

"Perhaps I can answer that question for you," a male voice said from the doorway. Teana, to her credit, reacted very quickly upon hearing that voice. Despite being completely unexpected, she was standing rigidly at attention and saluting as an Admiral of the Naval Forces walked into the command center. It didn't matter that Teana knew this Admiral personally--she had been taught to show respect to the rank, not the person, after all.

"How long have you been listening at the door?" Fate asked crossly, not bothering to stand up or show any respect whatsoever. Her ire was palpable--Teana could almost feel the irritation her senior felt.

"Not long," Chrono Harlaown said as he pulled up a chair and sat down behind Shari's vacant desk, the engineer having gone to her quarters for some rest hours ago. "I sincerely apologize for blocking your queries, but there's more here going on than you know. My mo--I mean, Director Harlaown has been furious ever since several nondisclosure agreements were circulated regarding the images of the suspect Cross Mirage captured. It was all I could do to prevent Intelligence from demanding that your Device undergo a full memory wipe."

"What does the Intelligence Service have to do with anything?" Fate demanded, watching Teana gulp anxiously after hearing the words "your Device" and "memory wipe" in the same sentence.

"This woman that you encountered--she is considered a person of interest by the TSAB's intelligence community, and I'm sure you know why."

Teana looked at Chrono and nodded. "She shrugs off magic like it's a spring shower."

"That isn't the whole of it," Chrono said grimly. "The woman's magic resistance against direct processes and effects isn't complete, but her resistance to detection magic is almost total. I'm certain you can understand why Intelligence has an interest here."

"But the TSAB officially assigned this case to us with the highest importance," Teana objected. "They're frantic to get this solved after Auris Gaiz's murder!"

"It's a simple case of the left hand of the Administration not knowing what the right hand is up to," Fate said simply, staring directly at her adoptive brother. "It's a problem endemic to all large governments."

"That's correct," Chrono replied, returning Fate's piercing, accusatory gaze with an apologetic smile. "Look, I know I didn't level with you or with our mother at first, but I wasn't in a position where I could do anything to help you. But things have changed now."

"What happened?" Fate demanded.

"The mysterious sniper has killed again," Chrono muttered darkly. "Another military officer in the Ground Forces--a Colonel Miller, ranking officer in the engineering corps."

"That's unusual," Teana pointed out, her brow furrowing as she attempted to make the connection. "First the assassin kills the very public and visible General Gaiz, then she kills some Colonel in the engineering corps?"

"The attacks seem random and purposeless, but I've had a working theory for a while and now that I've seen more of this young lady's work, I'm inclined to believe that my theory is correct," Chrono stated.

"What theory?" Fate asked.

"The targets destroyed by the particle beam don't appear to serve any connected purpose. Computer simulations bore this out, and with the assassination of General Gaiz... all the pieces fall into place. Our little sniper is throwing up a smokescreen, but she may not even know it herself--it's likely her employer calling the shots behind the scenes."

"It fits," Teana replied, mulling that one over in her head. "We've had incidents in which many people were killed to disguise and obscure the specific death of one person. If these assassinations are a smokescreen, who do you think the real target is?"

"I don't know, but I have my suspicions. If the killings had started and stopped with Auris Gaiz, this would have been easier. Killing her was a brilliant move on the enemy's part--the political fallout will keep the Administration distracted for weeks. The local representatives are already at each other's throats trying to appoint her successor."

"So who do you suspect will be the true target?"

"Why would anyone use an energy weapon of unknown origin to kill Auris Gaiz? She isn't a mage and has never been one. She would be unable to defend herself against a simple bullet fired from a mass-based sniper rifle. There's no reason to use that much overwhelming power against such a target. The materiel targets make more sense--destroying objects takes much more effort.

"But think about it, Teana. Why would the assassin need so much stopping power--a weapon seemingly tailor made to kill a powerful mage before their autoguard can activate? What target within the command structure of the Ground Forces warrants such drastic measures?"

Chrono nodded in satisfaction as Teana made the connection. The blood drained from her face, leaving her pale and wide-eyed as she quickly tumbled to the proper conclusion.

"Ha... have you warned her yet?" Teana asked grimly.

"I haven't and I won't," Chrono said coolly, ignoring Teana's outraged expression. "If it becomes obvious that she knows she is being hunted, the mastermind behind this plot may go to ground and we'll never find them. She's an officer in the military and within the command structure--she knows the risks, and she knows that many people have not forgiven her for the crimes her 'children' once committed."

"Wait, wait, wait," Fate shouted suddenly, slamming her palms on the table. "The killer is after Hayate?! And you are just going to let it happen?"

Chrono held his hands up and replied mildly, "There's nothing I can do about it in any case. These are orders from above--my hands are tied, Fate. I was specifically ordered not to tell her. The only reason I'm telling you two is that my orders concerning these matters were only clear regarding Colonel Yagami."

"Do you have any good news at all or are you just here to upset us?" Fate queried angrily.

"As a matter of fact, I do have good news--I have the information you were seeking. I had to call in some favors and pull some strings, but I managed to find out who the woman in Cross Mirage's recording is." Chrono plugged a memory card into the console on Shari's desk and displayed the information.

It was the intelligence dossier on the woman Teana had encountered and fought nearly a week ago. She was shocked at how detailed it was, how much the TSAB's intelligence agency knew about this woman and yet left her completely alone to wreak havoc as she saw fit.

"Nena Karolyn Ashley," Chrono began, reading the report summary. "Unknown age, believed to be in her mid-twenties. Born on Midchilda in an undisclosed location, likely somewhere within current Belkan territory. According to Intelligence reports, she grew up in a small town predominately populated by the descendants of Belkan expatriates, near the Saint Church itself. Data on her adolescent years is incomplete and inconclusive, but there were some witnesses who mentioned that she was kidnapped by a group of strange men wearing what appeared to be power-assisted armor suits.

"Five years later she reappeared, spotted by several Intelligence cells making a living as a freelance courier and smuggler. She ran drugs, mass-based weapons and smuggled various other types of contraband for many different underworld interests, but stopped short at slaving operations and anything related to Lost Logia. Nothing major, really--at this point she was a petty criminal, a space pirate of sorts. The Enforcer patrols were on the lookout for her, but at that time a large portion of the fleet was busy with the Book of Darkness incident."

"What changed her from a smuggler to an assassin?" Teana asked impatiently.

"We don't know, really. During the Book of Darkness incident, Intelligence probes recorded a fierce space battle against multiple pirate vessels. The vessel known to belong to Nena Ashley was crippled and boarded by other pirates with the intent to capture. Reports of what happened within are sketchy, but the general claim is that this is when Nena obtained her distinctive weapon. It wasn't long after the battle that Nena began to reduce her shipping jobs and increase her hunting missions."

"Has she ever targeted Administration personnel before?" Fate asked. Chrono shook his head and brought up another file--this one a list of people Intelligence suspected that Nena Ashley had killed. Teana was taken aback by the high number of kills credited to the woman--nearly two hundred suspected killings.

"As you can see, the majority of kills credited to her are underworld figures. She was something of a hitman for various organized crime groups, a bounty hunter operating on the wrong side of the law. Only recently has she started to assassinate Administration personnel." Chrono highlighted a recent entry, dated less than two months ago.

"Intelligence has no idea why she suddenly started assassinating Administration personnel two months ago. They believe that she has been working for the same person or organization for at least two years, yet up until recently she has only been used within the underworld."

"What's this here... entry from last month on the activity report," Teana murmured, gesturing to the inactive window. Chrono obligingly switched to the other report and highlighted the entry in question.

"According to this report, a small scout vessel rumored to be owned by Nena Ashley was spotted nosing around an orbital maximum-security prison controlled by the Naval Forces. Apparently the automated security system activated and sent a number of fighter drones out to investigate, but she was already gone by the time they arrived."

"That's the prison where Scaglietti is being held," Fate noted. Chrono nodded, his expression troubled.

"It's possible that her client wishes to free the good Doctor, but there are dozens of other high-profile dimensional criminals kept within that facility. Scaglietti is a small fish in a big pond. Still, it's troubling information," the admiral agreed.

"Is there any data on Nena's magic resistance?" Teana inquired, changing the subject suddenly. Chrono shook his head.

"Unfortunately that was the one thing the Intelligence Service refused to release. I can't even see that information, much less access it away from their secure terminals. It was all I could do to obtain a personal dossier on Miss Ashley."

"The Administration isn't doing anything... funny again, are they?" Teana inquired with a suspicious tone. Chrono shook his head helplessly.

"I only know what they tell me. I do realize where you're going with this, but I can assure you the answer is probably not. The Administration has little use for magic resistant soldiers, considering how all of our technology and infrastructure is built upon magic use."

Teana and Fate both caught the unspoken hint Chrono had carefully worked into his neutral reply. They glanced at each other and nodded--Teana noticing that her senior's face looked much more pleased and less upset with her brother than moments before.

"I'm tired," Fate said absently. "I'm going back to my quarters. Nanoha is probably wondering what's taking me so long."

"Say hello to Nanoha for me," Chrono said with a smile. His adoptive sister nodded and smiled back, showing Chrono clearly that she wasn't upset with him personally, but only upset with what he had been forced to do that had hindered her investigation. Had it been anyone else, Teana knew, she would have been threatening to bring them up on charges for intefering with a federal investigation.

"I'm going to stay and work on this some more," Teana told Fate as she picked up her purse and prepared to leave. Fate's expression softened and she glanced out the window.

"Subaru would probably like to see you some since you're in town," she noted.

"She's busy right now," Teana said matter-of-factly as she started sifting through the data on Nena Ashley. "There was some severe weather that caused disaster for the fishing fleet off the coast. Her unit was called in to rescue the crews of several capsized fishing boats."

"Terrible storm going on," Chrono agreed. "It should make landfall and drop a deluge on Cranagan within the next six hours."

"I'm going," Fate said as she walked out the door. "See you tomorrow morning, Teana. Make sure you get some sleep tonight."

"Yes ma'am," Teana replied absently. Chrono excused himself silently and followed his sister out the door, leaving Teana alone with her thoughts and the data on her rival, the prime suspect of the Capital Sniper case.

"Nena K. Ashley... now we've got a name to go with that face, with that weapon," Teana murmured to the image burning on the data window in front of her. The young woman in the image hardly had the look of a hardened killer with the blood of hundreds on her hands. She was attractive--not beautiful, not the kind of woman who would attract the eyes of ever male in a crowded room--but pretty enough. Maybe cute.

The picture itself wasn't the unkempt mug shot of a captured criminal, but a high-definition Intelligence snapshot taken of the woman in a small restaurant. The short white dress and decorative high-heeled sandals did much to accentuate her apparent innocence. Teana prided herself on her lack of prejudices, but even she wouldn't have pegged Nena Ashley as a pirate, smuggler and murderer.

I wonder why she's doing this, Teana thought to herself. Most mercenaries and freelancers don't intentionally go against the Administration purely for profit. There are much safer means of making a living within the underworld. As a pure profit motive, it just doesn't add up...

A Path Through Remembrance
1st phase
2nd phase
3rd phase

[synaesthetic]

Spoiler for a path through remembrance ~ 3rd phase (continued):

"This is Nena."

She hadn't heard from her client since the debriefing from the last mission. She had decamped, left Midchilda in her personal vessel to await further orders. She was expecting to be activated again, but certainly wasn't expecting what came next.

"Nena, my dear, I would dearly love to hear an explanation from you," said the cheerful male voice. While his tone was jovial and seemed to contain the very sound of a smile, Nena knew right away that he was not pleased. In fact, she knew he was enraged. This put Nena on the defensive immediately.

"What are you talking about? The last mission was successful. I eliminated the target without problem."

"I'm not talking about that," her client said dismissively. "The mission before that--the emergency sabotage mission. You remember?"

"Of course I remember. I completed that mission successfully as well. The target was destroyed and the EM radiation from the wide-aperture shot surely corrupted any remaining data beyond usefulness."

"You left a witness, even engaged her in open combat! The Enforcer you fought with took a video record of your brief battle and now the Administration has more information on you than even I thought possible! Regardless of how 'successful' you were, that mission has been rendered completely superfluous!"

"That isn't my fault," Nena snapped coldly. "You're the one planning this operation, not me. I followed my instructions faithfully. According to your information, the area should have been deserted at the time. It's hardly my fault that carrot-topped little bitch wandered into the mission area."

"You have used up your second chance," the man said suddenly. "I will not give you another. Do not fail me again."

"If you even think about cheating me, your vaunted political connections will not save you. Don't fuck with me, you pathetic piece of shit," Nena snarled into the phone.

"Calm down, Nena," her client said in a bland, placating tone. This only infuriated Nena further--that smarmy politician's voice so often used in his public speeches and press conferences. "There's no need to make idle threats."

Nena ignored the jab. "Do you have anything else?"

"Of course," the man said calmly, but Nena knew that wouldn't be enough. She never trusted him to begin with, but she would have even less reason to trust him now. The possibility that she would be replaced by someone more compliant loomed in her thoughts. Her eyes instinctively went to the metal case holding her neutron rifle.

"The next mission will take place in twenty four hours," the man said mildly. "Thanks to your incompetent handling of the eighth operation, the final operational plan will take place as soon as possible."

"The true target finally comes out," Nena said dryly. "I wondered just how long you'd have me put up a smokescreen. I knew from the beginning that Auris Gaiz wasn't your true enemy."

"I would have had you eliminate six more targets had the Administration not discovered your identity," the man grumbled in a low voice. "As it is now, this operation will be extremely risky."

Risky to you, probably a death sentence to me, Nena thought darkly.

"Who's the target?"

"Colonel Hayate Yagami."

A death sentence, indeed.

"Hold it... you want me to kill an operational combat-type mage with a triple-S rank? If you wanted to kill me, there are easier ways to go about it."

"It's not that difficult and I do not wish to kill you. Your neutron rifle will function against Yagami just as well as any other combat-type mage. Autoguard activation speeds are limited by the clock speed and data processing of the given device. Even a Unison Device cannot process commands fast enough to erect a barrier strong enough to block your weapon."

"If she's in Unison, it won't be enough to kill her, anyway," Nena said acidly.

"She won't be," her client assured her. "Yagami may be an operational combat-type, but she rarely participates in battle. She occupies a command position and her duties consist largely of paper-shuffling. Her Unison Device is generally utilized in a similar fashion. The operation plans will be transmitted in an hour. Study them thoroughly, for you have only twenty-four hours to prepare."

"Wait just a minute. I haven't accepted the mission yet," Nena protested.

"You wish to terminate our contract?"

"No, I'm not going to sever our association yet," Nena replied in a soothing tone, "but I am curious. I want to know why you want Yagami dead."

"That's simple," said the man with a laugh. "Yagami is a symbol of the new, kinder face of the Administration. She is a perfect figurehead which will be raised up as a shining example of the new generation. For a mere Colonel, her political power is immense within the TSAB's ranks. She's up for a Silver Star, and if she becomes a general officer, the Ground Forces will essentially be at her extremely capable fingertips. This I cannot have."

"That isn't all of it," Nena said, noting the tone of the man's voice. "There's something more you're not telling me."

"You don't know who I am, but let me just say that it will greatly benefit my people and my future plans to have Yagami removed from consideration. The Administration stifles my world. Without Yagami... a declaration of independence--and by extension, war--will be much easier."

So that's what this is all about, Nena thought, cracking a pencil-thin smile. The jovial, cheerful man was the leader of one of the Administration's member-worlds and he wished to declare his world's independence. The "new face" of the Administration since Regius Gaiz's death had been far more effective in keeping the peace and maintaining healthy diplomatic relations with administrated worlds.

Without Yagami's soothing words--it was well-known that despite being an incredibly powerful air combat-type mage, Yagami did not love battle--a war to keep the Administration united would be inevitable. There were enough people still within the Administration who resented Yagami's position and power in light of her involvement with the Book of Darkness incident.

Her client rightly assumed that a slain Yagami would never receive justice and that the Administration would be too busy trying to gloss over her death and fill the power vacuum to notice the beginnings of a secession. When the Administration finally reacted, it would be too late--the specter of war would already be upon them.

Nena had no illusions about the outcome of such a war. The number of powerful combat-types within the Administration's command was significant, but that alone did not guarantee an easy victory. The war would be long and bloody. Many people would die and Nena herself would certainly be unsafe in administrated space.

The thought of what her client intended to do disturbed her profoundly. She had no qualms abnout killing to live--after all, life was a struggle and only the strong or crafty thrived. But to intentionally start a war that would result in the deaths of many millions of people...

"Perhaps my decision to retire early will be made for me," Nena said thoughtfully, the double meaning hidden in her words lost on her client. The man on the other end laughed uproariously, a bawdy sound that seemed strange coming from that cultured, cheerful voice.

"Have no fear, my dear Nena. Your final contract remuneration will be enough to retire early and do it in style."

---

"We've got movement," Teana said triumphantly. "According to the observer post at a private spaceport three hundred kilometers outside Cranagan, the scout vessel believed to belong to Nena Ashley has touched down on Midchilda."

"The suspect is here?" Fate demanded, standing up from her desk suddenly.

"And moving quickly. Enforcer observers have tracked the pilot of the scout vessel; she's moving at high speeds down the coastal highway headed toward the main port. According to the information we have on her vehicle, she will need to stop there and refuel before continuing on to Cranagan."

"I'll go on ahead," Fate said grimly, already running for the door. Teana didn't bother to respond, knowing that Fate could arrive at the scene much faster than she could, since she could fly under her own power. Teana grabbed Cross Mirage and shut down the computers, making sure to lock down all the data before leaving.

There was a transfer port that would take her to the main receiving port outside of Cranagan; Teana could be there within ten minutes if the line wasn't too long.

"Cross Mirage, open a secure channel to Shari," Teana ordered as she ran down the hallways of the Enforcer building.

"Yes," the Device responded in a metallic tone. "Channel open, secure connection established."

The connection was made and a monitor window materialized before Teana, displaying a disheveled and sleepy Shario Finieno.

"Wha... Teana? It's three in the morning... can't it wait till tomorrow?"

"Sorry for waking you, Shari. The prime suspect in our case is on the move. I need you to get to the data center now and coordinate with Fate and the Enforcer units stationed at the Midchilda interstellar spaceport. We've got to get the spaceport before the suspect reaches Cranagan."

"You found her?" Shari queried, any hint of sleepiness suddenly gone from her voice. After Chrono had left the previous evening, Teana organized a meeting of the team early the next morning. The three Harlaowns, Teana and Shari had all gathered together to discuss the new information gleaned from the Intelligence Service records.

"Despite her magic resistance, there are other ways to track a person," Teana responded as she fairly shoulder-slammed the door to the transfer port room open. "We've managed to follow her spacecraft to a private spaceport owned by a shipping conglomerate on Administrated World #191. She's heading for Cranagan via the coastal highway and will stop at the main government spaceport to refuel before continuing the remaining hundred kilometers to the capital."

"What is her target?"

"I can't say," Teana said, wincing as she struggled to type in the complex coordinates for the transfer while holding a conversation at the same time. "But it's important. It's someone we know and love. We have to stop her before she leaves the government port."

"I'll be at the data center in ten minutes," Shari promised. Teana cut off the connection without responding, knowing that Shari would be good at her word. The command completed, the transfer port shimmered to life and Teana stepped into the aperture.

"Cross Mirage, Set Up!"

---

Nena didn't like this one bit. The government spaceport was bristling with security, but there wasn't any other places she could refuel the mana cells for her vehicle. The personnel at the private spaceport didn't have the facilities to do so. Not for the first time, Nena wished she had procured a car with a non-magical power source.

Fortunately, the refueling stations were outside the spaceport itself and thus not directly within the security web. If all went well, Nena would be able to continue unhindered. The vast majority of the Administration had little reason to suspect her--the mission plan she had received assured her that the information connecting her with Auris Gaiz's death was not widely known.

The only variables would be that Enforcer and her partner, Nena thought darkly. It was highly likely that they would show up to stop her, but Nena felt confident that by the time they showed up, she would be already gone.

"Hold it right there," a clear, strong female voice shouted from behind her. Nena's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Did the little Enforcer disobey orders and leak information to the Enforcer unit stationed here? Or was it something else...

"Put your hands up where I can see them and turn around," the voice ordered. Nena complied, putting her hands up in the air and slowly turning around to face her challenger. Frowning, Nena recognized the uniform as that of the Disaster Relief Corps. The woman wearing the uniform was stoutly built, short dark hair bound with a pristine white headband. In one hand she held a glittering jewel that shined with an inner light--an Intelligent Device in suspended mode, Nena knew.

"What seems to be the problem... Sergeant... Nakajima, is it?" Nena inquired in a sweet voice, reading the nametag on the woman's uniform. Her hands started to slowly, subtly drift downward from their raised position--just a little more, and Nena would be able to reach her sidearm and put this meddler out of commission.

"Don't move a muscle! Nena Karolyn Ashley, you're under arrest for the murder of General AUris Gaiz, Colonel Steven Miller, espionage, possession of illegal mass-based weaponry and the destruction of government property. If you cooperate I promise you'll be treated justly and receive a fair trial."

"And if I don't cooperate?" Nena inquired with a wicked grin.

"Then I'll have to convince you otherwise," Nakajima responded, scowling. Nena exploded into motion, dropping into a shoulder roll and drawing her sidearm with commendable speed. Two shots rang out immediately, the ten-millimeter armor-piercing rounds slamming directly into the woman's chest.

Nena was quite frankly astonished when not only was Nakajima still standing, but still had that same determined scowl on her face. The twin holes punched into her chest by the AP rounds didn't seem to bleed much at all--there was a slight trace of red blood around the wounds, but it was mingled with a darker fluid that resembled a type of high-precision lubricant.

"A combat cyborg," Nena murmured quietly, preparing herself mentally as Nakajima activated her Device's initialization sequence.

"Mach Caliber, Set Up!"

Blue flashes of activated mana circulated as the Device powered up, booting surprisingly quickly. Nena shielded her eyes, unwilling to let the afterimage temporarily ruin her aim, but the combat cyborg had no such problems. A heavily armored fist took Nena squarely in the solar plexus, the force of the purely physical blow utterly ignoring her magic resistance and propelling her back nearly two meters.

Nena coughed horribly, struggling to her feet, fighting back the pain and spitting a wad of blood-soaked saliva onto the tarmac. It'd be bad to continue fighting this melee monstrosity--Nena's advantages were utterly useless in this kind of a fight and her sidearm didn't have enough stopping power to do any real damage to a combat cyborg.

The punch hadn't seriously wounded her, but it hurt to breathe. Nena sucked it up, withstanding the pain as she broke into a run toward her vehicle. If she could get her neutron rifle out, she might have a chance. Firing it in close range would be extremly unwieldy, but she could think of no other way to dispatch Nakajima.

A yellow-white blast of magical force stopped her dead in her tracks, catching the car's engine compartment, shearing metal, carbon fiber and plastic, melting delicate components together. Thankfully the mana cell was elsewhere and the entire car didn't explode, but that hardly availed Nena.

Things were looking grim indeed. Nena's gaze followed the source of the shot to the Harlaown, floating serenely above the refueling station, clad in her protective Barrier Jacket and gripping Bardiche in one hand.

Damn, Nena thought bleakly. Nakajima's intervention had delayed her just long enough for Fate Harlaown to arrive. Against two combat-type mages at this close range, both mages being close-combat specialists... Nena had no chance at all.

"You aren't getting away this time," a familiar female voice rang out from the darkness behind the refueling station. A young woman with flame-colored hair bound in twintails stepped from the shadows, gripping a pair of pistol-form Devices in her hands.

Nena groaned inwardly. Three mages, all combat-types, all A rank or stronger. Without range and her neutron rifle, she would have absolutely no hope in escaping, much less fighting. Nena could do nothing but surrender or die. Her hands went up and she dropped her pistol to the ground.

"No reward is worth dying for," Nena said with a wistful smile. "I surrender."

"Subaru, secure her," Teana ordered. The combat cyborg, clearly the most effective against Nena and her particular talents, approached Nena and quickly processed a bind spell. The bind activated but lasted only a few moments before distorting and vanishing without a trace.

"Binds don't work on her," Teana reminded her friend, handing Subaru a pair of old-fashioned metal restraints. "Use these instead."

"Caution! Incoming attack, mass-based bombardment!" Mach Caliber warned, the AI's female voice urgent.

Mere seconds later the world was enveloped in fire. Concussive blasts stunned Nena, knocking her from her feet. Her head slammed into the pavement with crushing force and she felt a trickle of blood run down her face before she lost consciousness.

---

"What's causing this?" Teana demanded as concussion grenades were once again lobbed at the group, exploding with tongues of flame and destruction. Nena's vehicle had been reduced to a shredded mass of twisted metal and carbon fiber, but Teana noted that the metal case holding Nena's neutron rifle was intact.

"Subaru, get that case out of the car, quickly!"

"Roger!"

The combat cyborg plowed through the burning remnants of the car and pulled the metal case out. The heat of the fire and explosions had heated the case to high temperatures, but Subaru's artificial body hardly cared.

"Enemy contacts approaching at high speed through the air," Fate reported from her vantage point above. "Powered armor soldiers armed with mass-based weaponry. Looks like grenade launchers and hypervelocity rifles."

Subaru flashed over to Teana's side, holding the metal case containing Nena's rifle. Teana frowned at the case and glanced around.

"We need to secure that," Teana said as more concussion grenades rained in on the trio, seemingly aimed at nothing, fired merely to restrict movement and keep the mages on their toes. Subaru nodded and hurried over to the support vehicle she'd arrived on the scene with. The vehicle itself was an armored transport protected with its own autoguard--it should be relatively safe from anything but a sustained bombardment.

"Enemies within range," Cross Mirage reported. Teana watched as five figures, outfitted with heavy power-assisted armor suits, touched down on the asphalt, their heavy-booted feet hitting the ground with loud metallic clangs.

"Target confirmed," the first armored soldier said aloud, his voice sounding mechanical and filtered. "Eliminate the agent, recover the neutron rifle and kill any witnesses."

The four other soldiers nodded to their leader and the men began to run, the powered armor suits greatly enhancing the strength of their legs. They made huge, bounding strides that covered large distances and quickly entered close-range with the mages. Hypervelocity rifles were brought up and fired in three-shot bursts, sending magnetically-accelerated ferrous slugs at several times the speed of sound.

Autoguards and barriers sprang into being, deflecting the powerful projectiles. Subaru immediately took point, her Armed Device loading several cartridges before erecting a potent forwar-defensive barrier to protect the ranged attacker Teana.

Fate quickly fired several bursts of magical energy at two of the powered armor soldiers, forcing them to respond by activating their flight packs and ascending into the air. They could hardly ignore her, despite knowing her tactic was specifically designed to divie their forces. If the soldiers remained on the ground, Fate would be able to ascend to altitude and bombard them with impunity. If they split up, it would leave only three to fight the two ground mages.

Either choice was unfortunate, but the soldiers were still confident in their success. The captain of the unit aimed his hypervelocity rifle at the unconscious Nena Ashley, determined to fulfill the first phase of his mission with minimal fuss.

A blast of blue-white magical energy disrupted his aim as Subaru Nakajima bore down on him, her face frozen in a mask of determination. That mailed fist, Revolver Knuckle, loaded several cartridges and began to spin with barely contained force. The captain tried to shift his aim to fire at the newcomer, but wasn't fast enough.

Subaru's charged fist met the open palm of the huge soldier. The strength behind that power-assisted armor was immense, but Subaru's magically-strengthened punch pushed the man backwards.

Snarling a curse, the enemy soldier yanked a long blade from a holster on his hip with his free hand and powered it up. The blade began to resonate at high frequencies as sonic pulses traveled through it. The cutting power of such a weapon would be more than sufficient to damage Subaru's cybernetic frame, but she didn't intend to let that happen.

"Revolver Knuckle, Cartridge Load!"

"Cartridge load," confirmed Mach Caliber coolly as its sister Armed Device slammed several cartridges into its mana reservoir.

"With a single blow! Divine..."

"... Buster," Mach Caliber finished as Subaru powered up her point-blank variation of Instructor Nanoha Takamachi's signature spell, Divine Buster. Blue-white flashes of magical force flared and exploded from Subaru's right fist, smashing into the chestplate of the enemy soldier. Light flared and built to a crescendo as the spell completed, leaving the powered armor trooper on his back, the servos of his heavy suit emitting sparks and protesting the rough treatment.

That's one out of the fight, thought Subaru triumphantly as she raced quickly to engage the next one, attempting to peel it off of Teana.

---

"Defend Nena Ashley!" Shari's voice rang out through the communications link to the three field mages. "The enemy troopers are after her! Don't let them kill the suspect!"

"Tell me something I don't know," Teana snapped as she let loose a blast of magical energy from Cross Mirage's quad barrels. The enemy soldier responded with a grunt and a blast of withering fire from his hypervelocity rifle, sending fierce sparks shooting off Teana's autoguard. It wouldn't be able to take too many more hits before its energy was depleted, she knew. Cross Mirage couldn't keep the barriers up while pouring so much energy into attacking.

"Crossfire... Shoot!"

Several magical bullets materialized around Teana and flew unerringly toward the enemy soldier. She knew that the heavy armor would prevent any serious damage, but she hoped to keep the enemy off-balance enough to charge up a powered Phantom Blazer. At this range it was doubtful--her most powerful spell could best be used at medium to long ranges, but she did not want to get into melee combat with something like that.

The powered armor trooper reacted predictably, simply taking the magical bullets with little more than a grunt and a few char marks on his armor plating. He raised his rifle and switched modes, activating the grenade launcher instead. Teana knew she wouldn't be able to block a concussion grenade fired directly at her, even with a directed and powered defense.

Teana took another way out. With her right hand pistol, she fired a single aimed shot and took mental control of the projectile's trajectory. With near-perfect accuracy, the shot traveled down the barrel of the grenade launcher and impacted against the concussion grenade the moment the trooper pulled the trigger.

An explosion rocked the battlefield as the powered armor trooper's rifle exploded in his hands, the conflagration fueled by the grenades left in the magazine. The trooper cursed aloud but simply backpedaled, igniting his flight pack and lifting off into the air. He aimed his wrist upward and detonated a white signal flare--an order to retreat.

"Don't chase them," Fate ordered as she landed lightly on the cracked and blasted pavement next to Teana. The junior Enforcer wiped sweat, blood and soot from her face, panting from the exertion of the frenzied, brief battle.

"What in the world was that all about?" Subaru demanded, rolling up to the other two before coming to a halt. Blood and various mechanical fluids soaked the front of her Barrier Jacket, but otherwise she appeared unharmed from the bullets that Nena had fired at her earlier.

"It appears that Nena Ashley's employer predicted our moves," Shari's voice said over the open communications link. "The data I'm receiving from Admiral Harlaown bears out this conclusion. It would be impossible for her to succeed against three mages, all ranked A or higher, even with her special weapon."

"Yes, but why did they retreat?" Teana wondered.

"The two that took to the air have been defeated," Fate said quietly. Teana's jaw dropped suddenly and she glared irritably at her senior. "With that and the captain of the unit out of the fight, they were reduced to two-on-three. Not good odds."

"They'll probably attack again, and likely with a larger unit," said Shari in a troubled tone. "Once it became apparent that they'd be looking at a 100% loss by continuing the battle, they obviously chose to retreat."

"The captain of the unit isn't dead," Subaru said with a smile. "Maybe we can get some information out of him?"

"I doubt it," murmured Fate grimly. "Look again."

Subaru glanced back to where she had left the captain of the unit toppled over in a nonfunctional suit of armor weighing several hundred kilos--and saw no trace of the captain or his armored suit.

"Huh? How did he escape?! His armor was completely shot; he couldn't even move!"

"That's a question I can't answer, Sergeant," Fate said, still speaking in her usual low tone. "This operation was a success--no casualties and we've captured the criminal Nena Ashley and obtained her unknown weapon."

"What about those guys in powered armor?" Teana insisted. "What do we do when they come back?"

"They aren't invincible," Subaru remarked laconically. "We'll just pound them into the dust the next time they show up."

"Maybe she hasn't changed after all," Teana muttered to Fate under her breath. The senior Enforcer smiled at the comment as the Disaster Relief vehicles began to pull up, sirens wailing.

---

Nena's brown eyes opened after an indeterminate period of time. She was in a pristine white hospital room cluttered with various bits of medical equipment and scanning apparatuses. Someone had undressed her, removed the scorched and blood-soaked olive green pants and gray tanktop, replacing them with a backless hospital gown.

Her body felt clean, scrubbed free of all the grime and soot that she'd accumulated on the battlefield. Her hair was brushed out and had been gently washed by someone who knew how to care for such things.

She could not ever recall being so well-treated after an injury.

"You're awake?"

Nena turned to the source of the kind female voice and noted that it belonged to a blond woman with gentle green eyes and a soft smile. She wore a Ground Forces military uniform underneath a long white lab coat. Various medical instruments were stuck into the pockets of her coat.

"Where am I?" Nena asked in a hoarse tone.

"You're in the infirmary wing of the Ground Forces headquarters in Cranagan, Midchilda's capital. I've been ordered to ensure you recover fully before we take you to a secure holding cell."

"So I've been captured, then," Nena said to no one in particular. "What are the charges?"

"I haven't been informed," the female doctor said softly. "You will have a chance to speak with the Enforcers who brought you in later, but for now you should rest. You've been through a lot--you nearly died from your injuries."

"Getting hit by a volley of concussion grenades will do that to you," said Nena acidly. "Get out."

The doctor smiled and nodded, taking no offense at Nena's harsh words and quietly walked from the hospital room. She nodded to the two Administration clerks posted outside the door, shutting it behind her.

"Now what the hell do I do?" Nena mused aloud.

[Jimmy C]

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

I'm guessing that resurrection magic is not possible within TSAB capacities ("Alicia Testarossa" springs to mind). Although Alicia wasn't still sticking around complaining about being dead at the time...

I'm aware of that. It's just that I think at least one of the three people in the conversation would be hoping that Arisa isn't dead dead. So she might suggest keeping the body on ice until Arisa can be checked. Even if it comes to naught in the end.

[Nanya01]

I just HAD to... It was bugging me at work...

*Sniffle* I miss Toonami...

I suck at using movie maker, so, I'll write up the script I thought up...

Spoiler for Commercials:

Announcer: Nanoha Takamachi is a typical nine year old girl. She spends time with her family and friends.

Scenes: Nanoha getting ready for school, Nanoha setting the table and Nanoha getting on the bus to go to school.

Nanoha: I love my mother!

Announcer: All that changed the day she met an injured ferret and got a magical item called Raising Heart.

Scenes: Nanoha finding Yuuno on the ground. Nanoha holding Raising Heart between her fingers.

Announcer: Now she has the power of magic and with it, she must take back the Jewel Seeds that have been scattered across the land.

Scene: Random Jewel Seed glowing faintly with power.

Yuuno: There are 21 Jewel Seeds that fell to your world. They have the power to grant wishes and can go out of control.

Announcer: But no one said that it was going to be easy. Nanoha is going to have to deal with active jewel seeds, transforming enemies and a powerful rival all the while keeping her school life normal.

Scenes: First and second active Jewel Seeds, the tree monster, and Suzuka's cat.

Cat: Miyah!

Scene: Aruf changing from human form to wolf form.

Aruf: Bad little girls get spanked.

Scene: Fate swinging Bardiche in scythe form.

Fate: Just stay out of my way.

Announcer: And you thought school was hard normally.

Nanoha: I'll do better than my best. I'll try even harder.

Announcer: Toonami presents: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

Title flash

Announcer: Prepare to be befriended.

Scene: Nanoha firing the Starlight Breaker.

Couldn't help myself! Seriously, had to do it!

[Wild Goose]

I saw what you did there, Syna... :3

Nice flow, and I'm liking how things are fitting together, and are those Landmates I see? ;3

Eagerly waiting more.